The Dangers of Mosquitos and Disease

Mosquitos have been the worst human enemy for centuries. It spreads disease and causes death to millions of people to these days. The most recent plague that mosquitos bring is the frightening Zika virus.
Despite the size, mosquito perhaps is the most dangerous animal for a human. Mosquito is the primary carrier of numerous human diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, and more. These diseases have been infected people all over the world and kill millions of them. According to the World Health Organization, over 50 percent of the population in the world is currently at risk of mosquito-borne diseases. Dengue fever, Zika, and other mosquito-borne disease are spreading quickly, resulting in a new report every week.

Mosquito Control

Throughout the year, people invent various methods of Mosquito Control, to prevent mosquito-borne disease. The sad truth is most of Mosquito Control methods are highly ineffective to fight mosquito-borne disease. Most people try hard to protect themselves from mosquito bites such as wearing repellent or spraying insecticides. Meanwhile, the U.S CDC or Centers of Control and Prevention works hard in preventing the country from domestic and exotic viral and bacterial pathogens transmitted by fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and more.

Mosquitoes as transmitters

Zika virus was first isolated in 1947 from a rhesus monkey that was found in Zika forest, Uganda. The disease was again reported in 2015 in Brazil and it was quickly exploded in 24 countries. The virus spreading quickly since the transmitters of the disease is a mosquito. Compared to other insects such as flies, the mosquito is the most effective transmitters.

Mosquitoes spread is actually not spreading the disease, but it spreads the disease-causing agents. When they bite people, they consume blood and the feeding allows them to produce eggs. During the feeding, mosquitoes bite or pierce the skin with a needle-like a mouth. They inject saliva into the people skin and deliver the disease-causing agents.

Compared to flies, there are only small species of flies which will bite people. When flies bite people, it will create a wound on the skin and then drinks blood from the wound. This means that flies do not directly inject saliva as mosquitoes do. Even though some diseases may be transmitted by flies only a few of pathogens that actually transmitted through flies bite. Since mosquitoes are able to fly, they also spread other diseases quickly than deadly illness such as Ebola which transmits person per person.

Repelling mosquitoes

The deadly diseases such as Zika virus comes from only one out of 3,500 mosquito species in the world. The recent study reveals the use of genes to the battle mosquito. Certain genes in the mosquito population are believed to be effective in preventing the next mosquito’s next generation from transmitting the pathogen. According to the theory, it should be effective to reduce the virus’s transmission and thus reducing the risk of infections and even deaths. To reach this purpose, specific tools should be made to massively ‘drive’ the genes to the mosquito populations.